In the public and political discourse economic conditions (such as poverty, inequality and low growth rates) are often named as causal factors for the genesis and export of terrorism from poor countries. At the same time, economically successful countries are considered as the prime targets of terrorism. In this paper we show that empirical estimates do not provide unambiguous results. Political, social and demographic conditions tend to correlate strongly with economic factors. Ignoring these variables may therefore result in a systematic overestimation of the role of economic variables. In addition, we argue that the direction of causality between economic conditions and terrorism is a priori unclear. This may also lead to an incorrect interpretation of the economy-terrorism nexus.